


Billie Holiday

by HappinessIsBlau



Series: Fallout: New Vegas Daily Writing Prompts [1]
Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Friendship/Love, Multi, mentioned previous f/f
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-31 07:19:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18586456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappinessIsBlau/pseuds/HappinessIsBlau
Summary: There, in a beautiful sequin gown, hanging on the arm of a dignified older gentleman, was someone that Ariah never thought she’d see again.





	Billie Holiday

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, 
> 
> So first off, I know it's been a while and I apologize for that. I just want you to know that I'm not abandoning the Fallout 4 prompts -- I've just been replaying New Vegas and I've felt incredibly inspired recently from that.
> 
> Now, if you're familiar with my Fallout 4 "Daily" prompts, this is much the same sort of thing. I think, though, that instead of just filling them with companions, other NPCs will be showing up, too. 
> 
> Feel free to drop me a message on tumblr if you have any questions! It's vault76 now, for those who are curious.
> 
> Love always!

Sitting in the lobby of the Ultra-Luxe wasn’t Ariah’s favorite way to pass the time, but despite her status as the leader of New Vegas, the other casinos wouldn’t let her play blackjack at their tables anymore. 

Despite the White Glove Society’s former tendencies, Ariah had found their favor by solving their problem with Heck Gunderson’s son with the least amount of bloodshed and the dismissal of Mortimer as a leader within their ranks. 

Still, the pretentious nature of those who frequented the Ultra-Luxe usually meant that Ariah just stayed for a few games until someone said something that rubbed her the wrong way just enough to leave for a little while. 

It had been an hour and several successful games. The only good that Legion money did was that the casinos still took the coins in exchange for chips, and Ariah’s pockets were lined with the ones she had picked off of dead Legionaries. Might as well use it somehow, she figured, as she turned more coins over to the guy who was half asleep and doing the money-to-chips exchanges. 

While they struggled to count her coins while wearing his mask, Ariah’s eyes wandered to the entrance of the casino to people watch. She was beginning to recognize those who frequented the strip: Mrs. Derrick, whose husband was wealthy back east and who came on frequent, luxurious vacations ; Mr. and Mr. Ortiz-Longboat, who were newlyweds on a honeymoon so long that the rumor was that they’d been married on the strip five years ago and just never went home ; and Annabelle Hershey, a former NCR Ranger turned one of Ariah’s new employees, who collected money from the casinos and watched their books. 

She waived at Annabelle who returned her wave curtly, and Ariah was about to look back at the person behind the counter when someone from her past caught her eye.

There, in a beautiful sequin gown, hanging on the arm of a dignified older gentleman, was someone that Ariah never thought she’d see again. Billie Owens, the girl who called herself Billie Holiday because of her passing resemblance and the fact that the long-dead singer was her namesake.

Back in New Reno they were friends - good friends. Girlfriends, maybe, without calling it that. Billie treated Ariah like a queen until she made it out of the city by hooking up with a customer that promised her the world. Ariah always wondered how Billie did after that, and now the beautiful girl was in New Vegas, pretty as a pre-war post card. A trophy.

The only thing that pulled her out of her reverie was the sound of the dude behind the exchange counter setting her chips on the counter top. Ariah swept them into her pocket and walked over to Billie and her date neutrally as they were greeted by the doorman.

“Hullo,” Ariah started, putting on her most charismatic smile. At her movement towards the door, Rex perked up and sauntered over towards her, gleefully accepting the pets and pats that were given to him along the way by the others on the casino floor. 

The man at Billie’s side looked confused, as did Billie at first, but then her eyes lit up in recognition. 

“Rae?” Billie asked quietly, and Ariah almost didn’t hear her old nickname asked to her in the form of a question. She pulled the worn leather cowfolk hat off of her head and put it on Rex’s, remembering her manners in the company of an old friend. 

Billie hadn’t lost herself, though. Despite the years between them and the public place, the woman wrapped Ariah in a hug, just like the ones she used to give. Suddenly, it was five years ago and they were both seventeen and doing their best to not get lost in the darkness as underage sex workers in New Reno, Ariah supporting herself and her sister and Billie running away from… something. 

Pulling apart from their hug was harder than it should have been, all things considered. 

“This is James,” she said, motioning towards the man who was standing at a respectful distance. He smiled wide and his teeth were straight and white, “he takes such good care of me, Rae. I’ve told him all about you.”

James held out his hand and Ariah shook it. He seemed legitimately happy for their reunion.

“Always good to meet an old friend of Billie’s,” he said warmly, and Ariah believed him.


End file.
